Firefinch is born: a small, focused publishing house with an approach and ethos that will appeal to authors, agents and publishers alike. 

Kate Parkin and Margaret Stead have teamed up to create Firefinch, putting their decades of experience to work to build a creative, collaborative home for authors.  

Parkin has previously held senior positions in many of the big corporate houses, including Penguin Random House where she was managing director of what is now the Cornerstone division. Most recently she was managing director of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK. Authors she has published over her career include John Grisham, Robert Harris, Sebastian Faulks, Michael Caine, Wilbur Smith, Lynda La Plante, T.M. Logan, Christy Lefteri and Heather Morris. 

Stead worked as barrister and solicitor before leaping to her first love of books, working at Harvill Press, Atlantic Books and Penguin Press, before joining Bonnier Books UK. She has also worked as a freelance editor and writer throughout her career. Authors she has worked closely with include Richard Ford, Damon Galgut, the late Alistair Darling, Sir Vince Cable, AN Wilson, Christy Lefteri, Stacey Halls, Christina Figueres and Heather Morris. 

Parkin and Stead are delighted to announce their first hire in Blake Brooks, who has been appointed Audience Development Director. An award-winning communications specialist who has worked at Head of Zeus, Saraband Books and at The Bookseller, Brooks was most recently at Bonnier Books UK where she managed the brand author programmes for Lynda La Plante, T.M. Logan, Wilbur Smith and Heather Morris. 

Kate Parkin, managing director, said “Publishing is all about networks and relationships and to be given the chance to start a new publishing house with a trusted group of friends and colleagues is truly exciting. I am very proud of the authors we are welcoming to Firefinch and can’t wait to see them take flight.” 

Margaret Stead, executive director, said: “I am absolutely delighted to be working with Kate and Blake again: two of the most inspirational and talented women in the industry. To have the opportunity to create a publishing house from the ground up, well supported by a brilliant wider team, is the dream.” 

Blake Brooks said: “I am so excited to be joining Firefinch: a place where we can provide a different kind of home for authors and a positive publishing partnership that benefits all. This is an incredible opportunity to build something new.” 

This is a publishing team with a reputation and track record for discovering and creating bestsellers. They will now carefully curate their own publishing list built on taste, market awareness and decades of experience. Further news will follow on individual books, but the Firefinch 2026 launch list of authors comprises: 
 

  • Anya Bergman – author of The Witches of Vardø and The Tarot Reader of Versailles 
  • Jonathan Black – author of The Secret History of the World 
  • Christy Lefteri – author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Songbirds and The Book of Fire 
  • Marc Levy – author of If Only It Were True, P.S. from Paris and The Last of the Stanfields 
  • Kate London – author of The Tower quartet 
  • Heather Morris – author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey, Three Sisters, Stories of Hope, Sisters Under the Rising Sun and The Wish 

Far from the schools of red tape and bureaucracy, this is about passion projects and agility, the creation of a nimble and collaborative space in which author and publisher work together. The Firefinch mantra?  ‘Books and Authors. Nothing else matters.’ 

AUTHORS AND AGENTS WELCOME THE LAUNCH OF FIREFINCH  

AUTHORS 

‘Joining Firefinch means the world to me and feels like being part of a creative family. I can sincerely say there is nowhere else I’d rather be. I am so excited about the journey ahead and I know that I will be surrounded by a fantastic, caring and supportive team.’ Christy Lefteri 

‘To be reunited with outstanding, passionate professionals, notably Kate and Margaret, is truly thrilling. Congratulations to everyone who makes up the Firefinch family.’ Heather Morris 

‘It’s a dream come true to be published by Firefinch and join their thrilling new venture.  Having worked with Kate and Margaret before, I feel so lucky and very honoured to be one of their inaugural authors.’ Anya Bergman 

‘I am very excited that my new series has found a home with Firefinch’s new publishing adventure. Margaret was my first editor, and I know that together we can tell powerful stories.’  
Kate London 

‘I’m thrilled to be published by Firefinch. Kate is as energetic and focused as anyone I have met in publishing and commercially astute, but what’s rarer still is that all this is the underpinned by a lightly worn but donnish erudition!’ Jonathan Black 

AGENTS 

‘It is always exciting to see new publishers come on the scene, and I was delighted to receive a call from Kate, an editor and publisher whom I’ve worked with and admired for many years. Jonathan Black’s new book is in great hands.’  
Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown 

‘One of the many things I love about Kate and Margaret is that while having acute business acumen they also have a deep understanding of writers. I ‘m absolutely thrilled to be reunited with them for Christy’s next two books. It feels like we’ve come home.’ Marianne Gunn O’Connor, MGOC Talent 

‘I am delighted to see another independent publisher join the fray, particularly one with two such experienced and thoughtful publishers at the helm.  Kate and Margaret are both alike and exceptional in bringing commercially focused energy but also author-friendly calm to their publishing.  I very much look forward to working with them in this new venture.’  
Victoria Hobbs, A M Heath 

‘I am so excited that Kate London should be a key part of the launch of this exciting new publishing venture.  Margaret and Kate are two of the best women in this industry and I know they will go from success to success.’ Alice Lutyens, Curtis Brown 

‘Kate is one of the most knowledgeable publishers I have ever worked with – her understanding of business strategy, her great eye for fiction, and her author care, mean that I am confident this new venture will be a roaring success.’  
Juliet Mushens, Mushens Entertainment